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Gun-toting couple's intention is a mystery
By JANE MEINHARDT © St. Petersburg Times, published November 15, 1998 To law enforcement officials, however, David Konek and Melissa Scherer appeared more reminiscent of Bonnie and Clyde. In love and in their early 20s, Konek and Scherer left the cold hills of Pennsylvania and rode into town in a van. A friend describes them as just a young couple who made a mistake while looking for a place to start a new life together. Authorities say Konek and Scherer toted loaded high-powered semiautomatic handguns. In the van was a veritable arsenal, including a cut-off 12-gauge shotgun, a 9mm handgun and two AK-47 assault rifles with more than 300 rounds of ammunition. All the guns were loaded. After Konek, 23, and Scherer, 22, were arrested last Sunday night by a Pinellas County sheriff's deputy who pulled over the van, local and federal authorities started investigating the couple. Although neither has a felony criminal record, investigators want to know where Konek and Scherer have been, why they had such firearms, what they did before they were arrested and what they planned to do. Charged with four counts of carrying concealed weapons, Konek and Scherer are in Pinellas County Jail in lieu of $20,000 bail each. Deputies are holding $1,200 in cash the pair was carrying and confiscated some items from the van that gave them more reasons to look closely at Konek and Scherer. Deputies said they found handcuffs, leather gloves, stocking masks with cut-out eye holes, two-way radios and an Ohio license tag that belonged to Alamo Rent-A-Car. "The detectives have information about a robbery that was foiled in Pennsylvania, but there is nothing definite," sheriff's Sgt. Greg Tita said. "It certainly looks like they could have gone in with guns blazing in a robbery, and at some point, there was some kind of statement made to detectives that they wouldn't be taken alive." Authorities have gotten it all wrong, says Brian Miller, a longtime friend of Konek's. Miller, who lives in Walnutport, Pa., said Konek and Scherer are decent people who wanted to live in Florida and made a mistake by taking guns into the state, possibly to sell them. "They were naive," said Miller, who has known Konek for about 10 years. "They didn't realize what they were doing was illegal. It's not uncommon for people to carry guns up here, and Dave is a gun person. People in Pennsylvania are." He said Konek went to military prep school and carried guns while working as a security guard and a private investigator in the Walnutport area. According to Miller and sheriff's detectives, Konek was fired from his job as a private investigator after he was arrested last month and accused of indecent exposure and lewd and lascivious conduct. Miller said that was when Konek decided to leave. Scherer was working as a counselor at a facility for troubled youth. She and Konek started dating in May, Miller said, and she had recently moved in with him in nearby Palmerton. "They're very much in love," he said. "He always wanted to be in Florida, so they just left together. I knew he was wanted as soon as he left town." Pennsylvania authorities wanted Konek for failing to appear in court on the indecent exposure and lewd and lascivious conduct charges. They also wanted to know why he had bought all those guns before he left. Konek was listed as armed and dangerous in the national crime computer. "The gun shop here called the authorities and told them he'd bought a whole lot of guns," Miller said. "I think Dave had heard a rumor that guns were worth more in Florida. Maybe he took them down there to sell them and make enough money for an apartment. I don't think he would harm anyone." As for the handcuffs, masks and radios, Miller said there is a good explanation for those: Konek used them as standard equipment when he worked as a private investigator. He said it was not unusual for Konek to have those items. The assault rifles, however, puzzle him. Miller had no idea why Konek would want AK-47s, unless it was to sell them. The cut down 12-gauge shotgun stored in a rack in Konek's van also bothers him. "Maybe he thought it was cool," Miller said. "I just have no idea why he would have bought those assault rifles. That's odd. I still think that if he had any intention of hurting someone, he would have gone out in a blaze of glory when his van got stopped. David is a good guy. He just made a mistake."
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ALM HARBOR -- He was formerly a private investigator. She was a counselor for troubled children.
